Off & running …

or at least sort of This weekend is the 250th anniversary of the founding of our nearest town, and I’ll be KIPing (in costume) at the Courthouse both Saturday and Sunday. I’ve packed a variety of projects – a lace edging, facecloth, sock and a mitten. I’ll try to get some photos.

All the yarns in the basket have been worked up, and they were all lovely. Here are a couple of the yarn doodlings

Panda Silk

Sweet Georgia Cashsilk

Yesterday I was looking for some straight needles (well-hidden as they so rarely get used!); Look what I found while digging in a box of old knitting stuff – wow!!!The shaded sweater actually caught my eye first, but the 2nd one is also an Elizabeth Zimmermann design, though in 1960, Woman’s Day obviously wasn’t into giving designers credit. Mom must have ordered the booklet, and also saved the pictures from the magazine. There are more goodies in the box that I need to investigate later.

Found this in the yard this afternoon (right before it was mowed) – there was 1 small clump/plant that was mostly 5-leafed ones, though I never saw one quite like this before. And this was the first thing I saw when I went out on the deck yesterday morning – big surprise! I’d prefer it stay off the deck, but I’m happy to have it doing rodent patrol in the yard.

Black rat snake; usually just called a black snake

Guess I need to quit procrastinating and finish packing!

Yarn, garden and other bits

I received some interesting yarns to doodle with,

Seeds are coming up in the garden …

Roma Italian beans.

Squash.

and the planters are looking good

In a moment of possible insanity, I said I’d participate in the 250th anniversary celebration for our county seat, which meant digging out a craft show wardrobe that hasn’t been used in forever. We won’t discuss the fact that some alterations are needed, but if I do say so, I’m still rather proud of some of the trim details I did so many years ago!

Craft show clothes

Apron pocket detail.

Apron lace (yes, it needs to be ironed)

Out & about …

We’ve had lots of birds and critters in the yard, including this wren, who was exploring below the deck yesterday,

Wren (bug hunting)

(the rock “mulch” is the only way I’ve found to keep the chipmunks from digging up my plants)

Wren

and one of the pair of phoebes that’s nesting down under again (closer than usual – I snuck this shot over the railing)

Phoebe

and more of the local wildlife – I’m glad I’ve got a rabbit-proof fence around the veggies!

How many bunnies (trick question)?

and even caterpillars – since they’re Swallowtail caterpillars (actually 5 of them), I just picked up another dill plant

Swallowtail caterpillar

Prairie Sunrise has been spectacular, though the rains have made it a bit droopy. I counted 24 flowers and buds on it.

Rose bush

Prairie Sunrise bud.

Just a little ways over, the hollyhocks are getting ready to bloom – can’t wait to see what color(s) are there.

Hollyhocks

This was the sky last evening, and it’s supposed to be more of the same, which makes Toby one unhappy dog, even with his ThunderShirt!

Stormy sky

Garden and a little knitting

Lots of things in bloom now, with more to come. The peonies are right on time for Memorial Day. I’m wishing I’d put supports around them earlier, especially Festiva Maxima, which is so loaded it’s drooping badly, but it’s gorgeous!

Peony White Sands

Pink Peony

Peony Festiva Maxima

I’ve made progress in the vegetable garden. There’s now a tomato plant next to each of the stakes but 1 – I’m still chasing a black/purple tomato plant for that spot. I had a Black Krim last year, but haven’t had any luck finding a plant this year. The asparagus (extreme right; planted last year) is doing nicely, and we should be able to pick more from it next year. There’s 1 row of okra in (blue tag, left) and a couple of rows of beans yet to plant – I get hungry just thinking about them

And here’s the gratuitous knitting picture – I finished a pair of socks in Lang JaWolle from stash (!); there’s another pair already on the needles. Hope everyone has a lovely holiday!

Long ago …

and it seems like far away, we used to go fly fishing, mostly on the Meramec River between Steelville and St. James MO. Because my mother-in-law lived with us, we were able to leave 3 then fairly small kids with her for the occasional weekend float trip. The original method was to put in downstream and motor upstream to where we planned to camp & fish. That way, if anything went wrong, the truck was downstream, so we didn’t have to paddle a loaded 19′ aluminum canoe up the river. We often went in the off-season, and woke up 1 morning I remember to temps in the 20′s, and a pretty good layer of frost on the sleeping bags Unfortunately, life eventually got in the way and those trips are only fond memories.

This clump of Amsonia/Dogbane is one enduring souvenir from those trips, in spite the construction project, in which a number of plants were lost. In looking it up, I discovered that it’s closely related to the milkweeds, oleanders and also vinca or periwinkle. In fall, it’s a lovely golden color.

Amsonia illustris.

The yellow rose has more flowers open practically every day.

Today we planted 2 new shrubs, after taking out a couple of  pretty, but extremely invasive honeysuckle bushes. The witchhazel (l) and the winterberry holly (r) will fill in the space nicely, once they get going.

Vine Lace Set is now up on Patternfish – please take a look!

Vine Lace Set

Mostly flowers & food

It’s been acting a bit more like May; this evening, I heard the first chuck-will’s-widow of the season, even though I haven’t heard a whip-poor-will yet (if you have cats in the house, click on the sound links and watch the reaction – it was pretty funny here!). The whip-poor-will’s range extends farther north, but we have both here – they’re rarely seen but we hear them a lot.

The Harison’s Yellow rose (heirloom rose) is in bloom, and the whole bush is loaded with buds. The other rose also has lots of buds, but isn’t quite there yet.

First bloom: Harison’s Yellow rose.

Mayapple.

There are mayapples over by the side of the house – I’ve no idea how they got there, but they must like it, as they’re multiplying. I think that may end up as a fern and wildflower area.

Some plants I picked up yesterday (lots of red for the hummers); several of the vincas, salvias and verbenas are already in planters, most of the others will go in the bed beside the deck, along with marigolds and nasturtiums, which did very well in spite of the hot dry summer last year. The 2 planters have lettuce and radishes in them.

Though the ground isn’t really dry enough to till thoroughly, I did make a start on it today, and it’s good to see progress!

Speckled (Salt & Pepper) Kingsnake.

I was actually quite happy to see this guy today – there used to be a larger one that lived under the back porch BC (Before Construction) and terrorized the varmints. I think this one is smaller, but maybe a descendant of the original one

The other day Toby kept barking and barking over by the corner of the fence. I never did figure out what he was upset about, but when I went to look, I spotted these, which made a nice little side dish for lunch:

Morels.

Hash for lunch: leftover ham, potatoes and onions.

May, and still with the showers!

It’s raining again today – about 2½” when I looked earlier, and no signs of stopping for a day or 2. The creeks and rivers are up again (some of the low water bridges were covered), though it’s not nearly as deep as a couple of weeks ago. I just hope it doesn’t quit entirely like it did last summer! Things have gotten so green it’s amazingly beautiful.

Red buckeye in full bloom.

Kitchen herbs.

I decided to add more cooking herbs in the end of the bed closest to the door, so I planted more chives, cilantro, 2 Italian parsley, and dill next to the first clump of chives and the thyme on the right. There’s also more thyme, oregano and mint in another bed even closer to the door

I had a supervisor while I was working with the plants.

On the knitting front, I’ve added a jacket and tank set, Chesapeake Twinset, to Patternfish – please take a look!

We still have lots of birds on the feeders – the grosbeaks and orioles are still around, along with all the “usual suspects” (cardinals, goldfinches, chickadees, titmice, nuthatches and small woodpeckers).

Also most or all of the wren houses seem to have been claimed.

House wren.

 

Phoebe feeding Brood #1 under the deck.